And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

(Intro}   E   A   E   A


(V1)
     E       A           E          C#m
When I was a young man I carried me pack,
      E              B         E
And I lived the free life of a rover.
                        A            E        C#m
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty Outback,
  E            B         E
I waltzed my Matilda all over.


(V2)
        B       A             E
Then in 1915 me country said, Son,
     B                                 A          E
It's time you stopped rambling there's work to be done.
                  A                 E         C#m
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
         E            B         E
And they marched me away to the war.


(Chorus)
E                   A           E
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
                      A            B     Bsus4  B
When the ship pulled away from the quay.
     A             F#m         E          C#m
And amidst all the tears, flag-waving and cheers,
   E              B      E    Esus4  E
We sailed off for Gallipoli.


(V3):
        E        A           E        C#m
And how well I remember that terrible day,
         E                 B            E
When our blood stained the sand and the water.
                A              E          C#m
And how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay,
        E              B            E
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.


(V4)
       B                       A              E
Johnny Turk he was ready, he'd primed himself well,
   B                              A                E
He rained us with bullets, and he showered us with shells.
                    A         E               C#m
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell,
       E            B            E
Nearly blew us back home to Australia.


(Chorus)
E                   A           E
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
                   A        B     Bsus4  B
When we stopped to bury our slain.
A         F#m            E            C#m
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
        E           B      E    Esus4  E
Then we started all over again.


(V5)
     E              A              E           C#m
And those that were left, well, we tried to survive,
        E            B                E
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
                  A            E       C#m
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive,
        E           B             E
While around me the corpses piled higher.


(V6)
       B                            A         E
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
    B                  A        E
And when I awoke in me hospital bed.
                    A             E            C#m
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead,
      E              B                 E
Never knew there was worse things than dying.


(V7)
E                  A           E
So no more I'll go Waltzing Matilda,
                     A            B     Bsus4  B
All around the green bush far and near.
   A             F#m     E              C#m
To hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs,
        E           B        E   Esus4  E
No more Waltzing Matilda for me.


(V8)
        E            A            E             C#m
So they gathered the wounded, the crippled, the maimed,
         E               B            E
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
                 A            E            C#m
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
      E             B         E
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.


(V9)
    B                         A        E
And when the ship pulled into Circular Quay,
  B                            A            E
I looked at the place where me legs used to be.
                             A            E           C#m
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me,
   E             B            E
To grieve and to mourn and to pity.


(Chorus)
E                   A           E
And the band played Waltzing Matilda,
                     A            B    Bsus4  B
When they carried us down the gangway.
    A      F#m                 E               C#m
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared,
          E                B      E   Esus4  E
Then they turned all their faces away.


(V10)
   E         A       E         C#m
So now every April I sit on my porch,
      E            B          E
And I watch the parade pass before me.
             A            E            C#m
I see my old comrades how proudly they march,
  E          B              E
Renewing old dreams of past glory.


(V11)
        B                         A               E
And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
        B                       A         E
They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war.
                     A               E             C#m
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
    E       B             E
And I ask myself the same question.


(Chorus)
E                  A           E
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda,
                      A          B    Bsus4  B
And the old men still answer the call.
    A          F#m         E           C#m
But year after year their numbers are fewer,
        E           B              E   Esus4  E
Someday no one will march there at all.


{Outro}
E                 A
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda,
E                                   B
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?
          E             B        C#m                A
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the Billabong,
A             E          B7         E
Who'll come a-Waltzing Matilda with me?